Workshop onSan Diego Bay Contaminated

Marine Sediments Assessmentand Remediation

Agenda No. 7 - DoD Sites

Charles Cheng, Ph.D. AEGSite Mitigation & Cleanup Unit

(858) 627- 3930chenc@rb9.swrcb.ca.gov

Selected DoD Sites

• Naval Amphibious Base (NAB)Coronado - DTSC Lead

• Naval Air Station North Island(NASNI) - DTSC & RWQCB JointLead

• Former Naval Training Center(NTC) - RWQCB Lead

Sediment Contamination atSites 3 and 2/4

Naval Amphibious Base(NAB)

Coronado

Site History

• Maintenance & repair of boats, trucks,amphibious landing vehicles andconstruction equipment

• Sources of waste include processingwaste waters, petroleum products, paint& thinner, solvents, sandblast grit

Site Contamination• Liquid waste historical discharged to

Glorietta Bay and San Diego Bay• Site 1 - Waste oil/fuel disposal pits• Site 2 - Solid waste disposal area, rusty

drums reported offshore of Site 2• Site 3 - Painting shop• Site 4 - Sandblast grit disposal area,

potential airborne transportation

Offshore Contamination

• Sources of sediment contamination– historical discharges

– waste disposal areas (Sites 2/4 and 3)– stormwater

• Sediment sampling

Sediment Contamination

• The following contaminants weredetected at concentrations above thesample quantitation limits (SQLs):– Metals– Pesticides/PCBs

– VOCs

Regulatory OversightStructure

• DTSC is the lead agency• RWQCB, FG, USFWS, NOAA are

supporting agencies

Strategy

• Use tiered approach to conduct ecological riskassessment

• DON policy is consistent with USEPAGuidance and DTSC guidance document

• Tier 1 - Screening Risk Assessment• Tier 2 - Baseline Ecological Risk Assessment• Tier 3 - Evaluation of Remedial Alternatives

Investigation Results

• Tier 1 Screening Risk Assessmentconcludes that risk calculations for all theecological receptors result in HQ >1,suggesting potential ecological risk

• Tier 2 Baseline Ecological RiskAssessment using additional site specificinformation is warranted

Issues

• Water Quality Objectives– Numerical standards

– Board policies

Off-Shore PorewaterContamination & Investigation

at Site 9Naval Air Station, North Island

(NASNI)

Site 9

Site History

• Former Chemical Waste DisposalArea

• Non segregated dumping from1940’s to 1968 in marshy area(“Firey marsh”)

• Dumping into unlined pits from1968 until mid-1970’s

Site History (cont.)

• Estimated 32 million gallons of liquidhazardous waste disposed

• Waste types include acids, caustics,solvents, cleaning/coating/platingsolutions, metals, oil & hydraulicfluids

Investigation Results

• GW is contaminated by all types ofindustrial wastes in the source area

• DNAPL exists and migrates• Chlorinated VOCs and metals

reported in porewater

Off-Shore Investigations

• Shoreline Cluster Wells for GWMonitoring

• Benthic Flux Measurement• Sediment Porewater Sampling• Limited Sediment Sampling

Porewater Sampling DataChem ic als M ax Conc entrat ion W Q O s

V OCs1,1,2-TCA 301,1-DCA 1401,1-DCE 90001,2-DCA 200 130c is -1,2-DCE 42000ethy lbenz ene 53toluene 130trans -1,2-DCE 510TCE 180 27V C 12000 36

M etalsArse nic 57.5 36Coppe r 7.4 3.1Le a d 9 8.1units in ug/L (ppb)

1,2 DCE

Vinyl chloride

1 foot depth 5 foot depth

Initial data:porewaterconcentrations

Current Investigation Status

• In-Situ Ecological Risk Assessment• Feasibility Study

Issues

• Porewater vs. SedimentContamination

• Risk vs. Discharge• Cleanup Feasibility and Strategy

Sediment Contamination atBoat Channel (BC)

Former Naval Training Center(NTC)

Background

• Commissioned in 1923 to providetraining for US Navy

• NTC was recommended for closureand transfer of property under BaseRealignment and Closure (BRAC)

• Boat Channel (Site 12) is the lastparcel to be transferred

Potential Waste Inputs from NTCActivities

• Waste lube oil• Waste pesticides• Plating wastewater• Paint thinner/solvents• Photoprocessing wastewater• Storm drainage, surface water runoff,

Illicit storm drain connections

Potential Waste Inputs fromOther Entities

• Thirty-three known storm water drains fromNTC, MCRD, Airport (Port Authority), City– metals, pesticides, TPH, PCBs, phosphorus,

surfactants, bacteria

• MCRD– sewage, steam cleaning effluent, pesticides,

PCBs, pentachlorophenol, medical lab wastes,photoprocessing wastewater

• Fleet Anti-Submarine Warfare Training Cntr– boat shop degreasing wastewater

Remedial Investigation (RI)

• Sediment evaluation (triadapproach)

• Aquatic-dependent wildlife riskassessment

• Human health risk assessment

Remedial Investigation (RI)Results

• Sediments– elevated chemical concentrations (highest

known lead conc. in the San Diego Bay)– reduced survival rate in test animals– reduced abundance & diversity of resident

benthic invertebrate community

• No risk to wildlife and human health

Selected Sediment DataChemicals Max Concentration ERL

Arsenic 20 8.2Chromium 145 81Copper 281 34Lead 391 46.7Mercury 0.7 0.15Silver 2.34 1Zinc 530 150Chlordane 26 0.5Total PCBs 92.8 22.7Total DDT 274 1.58Total PAHs 5436 4022Dibutyltin 221Tributyltin 195

Conclusions from RI Report

• No impact to wildlife and human,sediment “hotspot” is outside NTC’sproperty, it is not NTC’s problem

• NTC unlikely contributed to sedimentcontamination in the boat channel

• Boat Channel should be “cleanclosed” for transfer

Technical Concerns with theRI Report

• Reference stations– location close to BC, fuel dock, vessels

– higher PCB accumulation in clam tissue– different grain size

• Fewer toxicity tests– echinoderm development data excluded

because reference station data failed

Technical Concerns with theRI Report (cont.)

• Decision matrix– Only ALL 3 categories register hits

would it be considered AOEC– High threshold for sediment chemistry

• > 1.2 RTR

• > 4xERM (individual) or• > 0.85 ERMQ (total)

(+) Contaminated or impacted

(-) Not contaminated or not impacted

Sediment Quality Decision Matrix

SedimentChemistry

Toxicity BenthicCommunity

Aquatic Life BUImpairment

+ + + Highly Likely+ - + Likely+ + - Likely- + + Possible- + - Possible- - + Unlikely+ - - Unlikely- - - Highly Unlikely

RWQCB’s Recommendations

• Re-interpret existing data• Conduct storm drain system investigation• Address the BC separate from the rest of

NTC property• All involved parties be named RPs to

participate in further investigation andcleanup activities

• BC should not be considered for closureuntil cleaned

Navy’s Responses

• The workplan was formerlyapproved, will not re-evaluate data

• Navy no longer owns NTC, will notconduct storm drain investigation

• Navy’s policy regarding cleanup• Navy wants to transfer the property

ASAP

Issues and Challenges

• Is there a problem?• Consistency• Property transfer• Continuous discharges from storm

drain• Multiple RPs